Thursday is a yoga day. I love the beginning of class. Kristin, our instructor, opens with a silly, middle school joke, starts the calming music, and invites us to "Sit up straight, breathe deeply from the abdomen, and try to clear your minds of distraction." What a treasure! Time to be still with the Spirit while going through the familiar, healing stretches that leave me feeling so much better.
I believe we are God's own creations, and that our earthly bodies are holy. As I settle into the quiet and focus on my breathing, I'm reminded that we're given breath by the Creator. A hymn text accompanies my deep breathing: In-breath "Breathe on me"; out-breath "breath of God". (Hymn 508) This is my most reliable way to remember and reflect on Who I belong to. The day's concerns fade to the background for 45 minutes - they can wait.
Do you have a favorite way to connect with your "fearfully and wonderfully made" (Ps. 139:14) body? I'm all too inclined to stay in my head. I can get interested in studying most any topic, and can usually be found with my nose in a book. My husband is fond of saying the house could fall down around me if I'm deep in thought. I might be accused of obsessing if I'm trying to solve a problem. But my physical body can speak more powerfully than my mind if I can just turn off the monkey brain for awhile. When I close my eyes in "mountain pose", I can feel the intricate movements that keep me in a state of homeostasis and allow me to stay upright (most of the time!). A similar appreciation for my whole sensory system happens when I ride my smooth quarter horse: the movement of her spine radiates right up my own, and works out the kinks of the fibromyalgia that causes my nerves to go into overdrive at the slightest excuse.
After some warriors, downward dogs, spinal twists, and finger yoga, we return to the quiet. "Sit comfortably, hands in your laps, palms facing up. Close your eyes or gaze softly." So, Spirit, I'm ready to receive what you're offering today. Open my eyes and ears and heart to your presence in everyone and everything. Namaste.
Kristen joke: "What's an alien's favorite candy?" (Mars bar! LOL)
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